


Notes on the Tom AU

by SakoAkarui



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Author Commentary, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2018-05-17 16:44:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5878132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakoAkarui/pseuds/SakoAkarui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the integrity of the intentions of the AU, all author notes will be posted here. Replies to comments that break the 4th wall may be answered here as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's get started

So yeah, I also saw that tumblr post flying around, and then I was like ‘well shit. Now I have ideas. That can only lead to mayhem’.  
And then this happened so whadya know. So yeah.

Tom replacing Jake AU. I had a lot of ideas going with this, and it required a lot of fleshing out. May veer very heavily from expectations.

Book 1 sticks to the script. Beyond that the intention is for each writer to write in their on style, including comma abuse and typos. God speed.

So rules going in.

1\. I decided to stick pretty on par for the first book. Knowing how insane I am, I probably will try to continue with this insanity in a way to long multi-work series, and hopefully things will start derailing. You know, once I get settled in. But it can feel a little forced a couple times. My defense is that the Ellimist did hand pick the team, so there are some odd nudges going on here and there that lead to this happy accident. So yeah, live with that.

2\. I had to flesh out Tom a lot to do this, so he may not be what you expected. He almost certainly won’t. He’s not even what I expected most of the time, and I’m writing this. Actually this was the main reason I wanted to write this. The original team dynamics demanded Jake be the leader not just because he was pretty levelheaded, but because he was the one they all knew and could trust. He tied them all together. Here? They’re all tied by the hole that IS a Controller. What was Jake’s sob story has become the central focus of everything they go through. Which is going to do some funny things along the way.

3\. Tom is REALLY different from what you probably expect. This required repetition. Tom is seen very briefly in the series - first in the first book, fighting and yelling at the controllers, second when the Yeerk shows Jake Tom pleading for them not to take Jake. Most of what you know is Jake's hero worship of his brother. I have an older brother myself who I really looked up to when I was Jake's age. But now that I'm older, and we're both adults, I realize I didn't really know him very much at all, because I was so tied up in that hero worship. I still look up to him to a huge degree, but that has tempered with age. So I took full liberties with fleshing Tom out.

4\. The timing is ambiguous. I’m axing seriously outdated jokes but I’m not thinking too hard about what I put in. I’m not exactly young myself anymore so some references might be too old and some might be too new. Whatever. Similarly, the stories are out of order. The crew decide which experience to refer to at their leisure. They are not planning, and some choose newer missions, and some choose older ones. If you were familiar with the series (I hope you were or this will probably be a little much to take in) the order will be easier to follow for the most part

5\. It always bothered the hell out of me how they always opened with the same lines, and there was never any understanding of how they were writing. So I’m going to be playing with that too. I’m super excited about that and that is precisely why these notes are not included in the series. Also, I tried to streamline the books. If something seemed kind of unnecessary I sped it up. Some books I'm skipping. I have some new ideas. I’m actually trying to keep the story telling in character, so sometimes it's the kids lying or fudging a bit, probably trying to avoid writing something embarrassing. Some lie more than others. Some remember incorrectly. Inconsistencies will not be changed or retconned, but if you bring it up (in comments), this will likely be the excuse you are given. But yeah, after the first one, there will be less ominous opening statements.

6\. I’m gonna try and make them less stupid about how they go about some things. My excuse is that Tom is older and not as dumb as they were. But yeah, they’ll still do lots of dumb things because dumb is dumb, and they really don’t know what they’re doing. But like how Cassie didn’t get a battle morph while they went running through the Gardens? That was stupid; why wouldn’t she do the thing they were there to do? So I fixed that. (Theoretically Tobias got something too. But that quickly doesn’t matter so yay handwave!) And they’ll be more planning too. Seriously. I can’t believe the originals never practiced their morphs. Also, Tom is older, and his approach to the war will be different than the others.

7\. There's a lot going on behind the chapters. Just like Tom keeps mentioning things he knows later here, there will be lots of call backs and forwards. I really wanted to play with the idea that the kids are actually writing these to the reader. So there's a lot you won't know until you get farther along, because the kids never really asked, or knew, or whatever. Also, if you see typos, they were probably intentional. Certain characters don't spellcheck. There are extra scenes that I am writing. I'm not sure if I will post them here or in another work (added to this in a series). Those are written in limited 3rd person, and are there to see the bigger picture, without the kids' bias.

8\. Another character to bring up. I fixed Ax. I know you're like what but he was really just this token alien in the original. Ax is not like them. Ax was trained to be in the military. He likens his position to that of a cadet. I decided he should act like that, and actually have a personality. I know, crazy. It should be noted that I have never been in the military myself, but I will try my best to make this believable. 

I think that's it for now. I'll add notes in new chapters as I think of them. I hope you enjoy this, because it's been kind of fun to work on. Way more character based. Parts that break my heart like woah when I think about them and write them out. Huge changes.

Yeah. Actually writer out.


	2. Cursing

Oh yeah, I also curse a lot, and it gets hard/tiresome to cut it out. I've decided due to laziness to leave it in. Tom's a bad influence.


	3. Comments and Updates

All comments on the actual works will be in characters. That's why this is separate. Because I can't post this there. So enjoy the opportunity to ask the characters what you like. Aside from obvious comments that gratuitously break the wall, the characters will respond pretty well.

Updates: I graduate from grad school in May 2016. So close! Then I will be back to 'time to actually write ho my gog what is this madness' mode. I'm so excited.

As this is written, I'm working on work 6 in the series. Probs halfway through. Probs. Lots of fleshing out on the overall arc/plot. So many threads. All the threads. Infinite threads.

PS Homestuck ending WHAT?!?!?!?!!

Timely post post-warning


	4. I have been so awful

So I am working on the next installment of the Animorphs series. And actually the next chapter is DONE, but... well, if I'm not more sure on the chapters to come, I'm worried I'll want to go fix things/wait way too long to get things out. But it is continuing, and this completely original mission is underway. In other news, I got my second masters and even a job in my field. YAY real life.

Okay, but seriously, I worry that the inability to do author notes on the main series will bite me in the ass. I don't know. Maybe it'll work out at some point. Comments give the opportunity for the characters to engage and grow. It's weird, because I have a timeline for where they are _when_ they write these things, vs. when these things actually happen. It's so weird. But also kind of fun. 

Also I love Ax. I've written some stuff of his that I'm waiting to bring out, but it'll be fun. Mm. Sweet baby. But also talking about what militaries really are, not just being upset about it. Just... perspective. 

This was me rambling. If you dropped in from a random search, there's a series I have of a Tom AU if you haven't seen it yet. I'm working on the next installment, which should soon move into phase two in which all shit falls apart. Like, completely. God I've been waiting for this...


	5. Delay Apologies

I think I took a six month hiatus on this one, and apologies. Personal shit blah blah. Also, 'The Gas' is hard since it's all from scratch so it's going a bit slower... Anyway. Not abandoned. Never give up, never surrender!


	6. Apologies for the major delay

I realize I took probs 'bout a year to update, but it was because this part gave me particular trouble writing, on top of real life issues. But it is finished (final chapter written, just needs a once over) and the next section is started and should be easier to write. Writing a whole original mission was hard, and I don't think I did it well. Hopefully you all enjoy The Gas anyway. There will be fall out in it to come.

-Sako


End file.
